CBI Special Court convicts three accused in 15 year old forgery case

Chandigarh, November 22, 2013: Three accused have been convicted by the CBI Special Judge Kanwaljit Singh Bajwa in a 15 year old forgery case whereby the Rajpura Branch of State Bank of India was duped off `2.60 Crores.  They were sentenced under IPC 420 5 years RI and 30,000 fine (ID 3 months), under IPC 467 7 years RI and 1 Lakh fine (ID 1 Year), under IPC 468 3 years RI and 20,000 fine (ID 3 months), under IPC 471 7 years RI and 1 Lakh fine (ID 1 Year). The case may be termed as the first of its kind in the region wherein the deposition of the main witness was recorded through video conferencing by the Court as he was residing in Dubai and was not able to come to India for getting recorded his statement. 

A Spokesperson of Punjab and Haryana High Court informed that as per the story, Parasram Daryani was residing in Dubai and had deposited about 13 lakh US dollars in FDRs in Rajpura Branch of the State Bank of India.  The accused in conspiracy with each other as well as the then manager of the SBI Rajpura, forged authority letters of Parasram Daryani for raising loan against these FDRs and also prepared other documents for this purpose by forging signatures of Parasram Daryani and his wife Neelam Daryani. The conspiracy came to surface when Parasram Daryani enquired from the bank that he has not received the FDRs even after passing of two months. Then the bank had held an enquiry in which it was found that the main accused alongwith the then bank manager, one CA Rajinder Kapoor and one expert of forging signatures Anurag Bawa had forged the documents for getting loan of Rs.2.60 crores. The case had hit the headlines of newspapers due to the high amount involved in it and also became high profile as it had its tentacles at international level.

He said that the case revealed as to how the secret messages were decoded in order to favour the accused in connivance with the bank officials who flouted all the norms of banking law and practice.  It is noteworthy that the bank had to pay back the amount of FDRs to its depositor Parasram Daryani as it had no other option left to save its face in the international banking fraternity.

The Court of CBI Special Judge Kanwaljit Singh Bajwa has held all the three accused guilty of cheating and forgery etc., (two accused out of total five had already expired) while opining that “the cause of the community cannot be treated with disdain. The entire nation is aggrieved if economic offenders who ruin the economy of the state are not brought to book. A murder may be committed in the heat of moment upon passions being aroused. On the contrary an economic offence is always committed with cool calculation and deliberate architect & design which is engineered with an eye on personal profits regardless of the consequence to the Community. Unfortunately in the last few years, the country has seen an alarming rise in white-collar crimes which has affected the fabric of the country's economic structure. These cases are nothing but private gains at the cost of public leading to economic disaster”